City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Villanova faced a hot-shooting Providence team and didn’t flinch, running its win streak to five since its only loss of the season with a 78-68 victory over the Friars in front of a sellout crowd at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon.

At First…

A shutdown Wildcats defense held the Friars to just four points in the game’s opening eight minutes, but an 8-0 Providence run quickly tied things at a dozen. Villanova responded with 10 straight to re-open the advantage before Providence slowly narrowed things down to just 35-31 at halftime.

Turning Point…

After a halftime break that was extended by a few minutes due to technical difficulties, Villanova locked in on both ends of the court. The Wildcats opened the second half on an 8-0 run as Providence came up empty on its first four possessions, pushing the lead back to a dozen.

The hammer blow came with under 12 minutes left to play, when a 3-pointer by Jalen Brunson (thanks to an offensive rebound by Donte Divincenzo) was followed by another long-range bucket from Kris Jenkins to push the lead to 17; then, out of a Providence timeout, a pair of fast-break buckets by 6-7 sophomore Mikal Bridges -- a slam dunk and then an acrobatic layup -- made it a 20-point advantage, 64-44, with nine minutes to play.

Providence whittled that down to nine with five minutes left on a trio of Jalen Lindsay 3-pointers, but the Friars got no closer.

Standout Stars…
Hart has been the leader in discussions for National Player of the Year honors all season long, and he certainly didn’t do anything to dissuade voters in this one. The 6-foot-5 wing surpassed the 20-point mark for the second time in his last seven games and ninth time on the season, finishing with 25 points, six rebounds and four assists, hitting 10-of-16 from the floor. Hart’s classmate, Kris Jenkins, added 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting; Mikal Bridges added 15 and Jalen Brunson 13 for the Wildcats.

Providence also had four players in double figures, led by 17 from junior Rodney Bullock and 14 from junior Jalen Lindsay, who had four 3-pointers.

Noteworthy Number(s)...
1: With the win, Villanova’s senior class of Hart, Jenkins and Darryl Reynolds picked up their 116th win over the last four seasons. That moves them within one of the record set by last year’s seniors, Ryan Arcidiacono and Daniel Ochefu, who won 20 games as freshmen before winning 29, 33 and 35 games over the next three seasons. This year’s senior class should have no problem setting the new mark quite a few games higher.

13: A Providence squad that isn’t known for being much of a 3-point shooting threat (7.2/game) knocked down 13 long-range attempts, just the fourth time all season the Friars made double-digit 3-pointers; that baker's dozen was one shy of their season high.

Up Next…

Villanova (19-1, 7-1 Big East) @ Marquette (12-6, 3-3) -- Tue., Jan. 24, 8 PM